Caesar's Legion
Edward Sallow and fellow Follower of the Apocalypse Bill Calhoun along with seven other members were sent east to study tribal languages. Along the way, they met a new canaanite missionary named Joshua Graham, who was a specialist in tribal dialects. However, not long after meeting up with Graham, all ten were captured by the Blackfoot tribe and held for ransom. At the time, the tribe was at war with seven other tribes, a war they were inevitably going to lose. Unwilling to be destroyed along with them, and against the wishes of his companions, Sallow chose to use his knowledge to train the Blackfoot tribe in the art of warfare after witnessing their lack of knowledge firsthand. He showed them how to clean and maintain guns, operate with small unit tactics, create their own explosives, and strike at their weakest enemies first, using the strategy of divide et impera - divide and conquer. He quickly impressed them enough that he was made their leader and took the name "Caesar". He also introduced the concept of total war to the tribes around them. They defeated the weakest of their enemies first, the Ridgers. Once they had been conquered, Caesar ordered every man, woman and child put to death. When they confronted the next tribe, the Kaibabs, they brought an emissary back to view the carnage. Caesar knew that though the tribes had always fought each other via occasional skirmishes, he considered them to only be "playing at war". The concept of total war was an entirely new, and terrifying, facet to his strategy that they had never confronted before and would form the core of the Legion's tactics and outlook. Eventually, all seven tribes were either destroyed or incorporated in what became known as the Legion. Caesar and Joshua Graham, now known as "the Malpais Legate", used the power base they established to attack and press more tribes into the Legion. For decades, they fought and absorbed lesser tribes, erasing tribal identities and shaping them into a massive, fanatically loyal army that, in Caesar's eyes, embodied the concept of perfect post-nuclear society. By 2271, the Legion had conquered 86 tribes and become by far the largest and most dangerous organization east of the Colorado. They clashed with the Desert Rangers in Arizona and nearly crushed them before the Desert Rangers were integrated into the NCR. In 2277, as a sign of their growing power, the Legion advanced westward toward New Vegas and created what would become their main base in the Mojave Wasteland: Fortification Hill. It is in the Mojave that they made first contact with the New California Republic. The Republic would have the dubious distinction of being recognized by Caesar as a worthy opponent. Under the command of the Malpais Legate, Legion forces marched against the NCR garrison at Hoover Dam, in an attempt to take the strategic asset and river crossing. In what became known as the First Battle of Hoover Dam, the Malpais Legate initially had the upper hand. The Legate was able to push the NCR defenders back and lead his forces over the dam. Lead elements of the NCR, including members of the 1st Recon Battalion and NCR Rangers, executed a tactical retreat west across the dam and into Boulder City, all the while using their marksmanship prowess to kill the Legion officers (primarily centurions, and decanii). The Legate, unable to adapt his strategies in combat or see the deception unfolding in front of him, chose to order his legionaries to push the rangers, not knowing the NCR had booby-trapped Boulder City, packing C4 along their line of retreat and within the city itself, and drawing the Legion into a trap. When the Legion forces entered the city, the NCR detonated the explosives and inflicted severe casualties among the Legion forces, crippling their offensive. The NCR forces then counter-attacked, pushing back and eventually routing the Legion forces who fled east back over the dam. Caesar, angered at the failure of his Legate, made an example of him. The Praetorian Guard covered the Legate in pitch, set him on fire, and cast him into the depths of the Gran Canyon. Caesar forbade mention of his name, and now he is spoken of only in hushed whispers by the lowest Legionaries and slaves; they call him the Burned Man. By 2281, Caesar's Legion has re-established its power in the west, rebuilt its army, and has slowly encroached on the city of New Vegas. They continue to contest NCR over all of the region, destroying several NCR bases such as Ranger Station Charlie and Camp Searchlight, overrunning the NCR town of Nelson, and creating unease and terror across the region. Sometime before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the Caesar's Legion has conquered a new tribe under the command of centurion Gaius Magnus, bringing the number to 87.